My new recruitment business: how should I promote it?

Here’s another question from the inbox: how to promote, market and write about a brand new early years (Kindergarten) education recruitment business. Like most crossovers between professionals and the commercial world, care has to be taken to make sure any promotion is squeaky clean.

You might also like to blog about early years/Kindergarten education issues within the localities in which you operate.

This lady started off with what I reckoned was somewhat the wrong approach …

Hi Suze, how do I approach new clients for business?

Do you do cold calling and try and get yourself an appointment with the right person or do you just turn up at their offices?

Thanks in advance for all the suggestions. 🙂

(NAME AND LOCATION WITHHELD)

Here is how I suggested he write about and promote his new recruitment business

Hi (NAME)

Especially considering the nature of your recruiting – professionals in education whether they are candidates or potential employers – I think you need to be a lot more subtle than that!

Let’s take a look at some of the marketing tools that should be available to you, how you can use them, write for them, and benefit for them … in the right way.

Assuming you specialise in early years teaching recruitment, it shouldn’t be hard to find groups on Facebook and on LinkedIn for both teachers looking for work and also the schools who would be looking to hire them.

Search for terms like “early years education (City #1/City #2/City #3/etc.” – whatever other areas you cover), join the groups and participate … but DO NOT advertise!

The idea is to become known, offer advice, show your expertise, and keep your name in people’s minds. They may not be people who will use your recruitment services themselves, but if they have come to know you and trust you, they will refer you when an appropriate opportunity comes up.

You might also like to blog about early years education within the localities in which you operate, and promote those blogs on social media – especially in the groups of which you are a member.

When you blog, ensure that you offer genuine value and interest to your target audience. And when you promote the blog posts in social media, make it clear in your introductory comment what readers will gain from clicking through and reading each post.

I just searched on LinkedIn for “early years education (NAME OF CITY)” and there are more than 900 results. Some, obviously, are your competitors, but it would pay to search further to find out what groups they belong to – and also to invite appropriate people to link up. LinkedIn would probably be an excellent place for you to find candidates, anyway.

All this is online networking and it is time consuming, but cheap!

You could also try face-to-face business networking in the local business communities but that might be a bit too much of a long shot – I don’t know enough about the education market to be a “guru,” so can’t advise here. However you must know where to find school Heads (Principals), Heads of Year, etc.

At the risk of sounding old fashioned, I would also suggest checking out which local newspapers carry a lot of teaching job ads. In addition they tend to have online stable mates where you could advertise.

If you’re just launching, you might be able to do a deal with the papers to run an article about you in exchange for your buying ad space. And there are more publications in most regions with readerships that are interested in education generally, including that for early years.

Thoughts

Mark Orr added in a comment on LinkedIn: Good stuff Suzan. You did highlight that some of the digital marketing takes time as does face to face networking. I have found that new businesses in any field have to earn some real income pretty quickly to survive.

My advice may sound a bit self interested but believe me it isn’t. All education establishments have their email inboxes and browsers heavily locked down, restricted and monitored so a lot of digital marketing just doesn’t get through at all. Therefore, because there is only going to be a small number of them in any town or city, I would recommend very personalised Direct Mail. Because it is so unusual to receive marketing letters these days, most of it will now get read.

The other thing for quick results is to have a launch event with an industry speaker that they would want to hear. By introducing the meeting & closing it out you can also show why you are very different. Moving on from that theme, start your own industry based monthly networking event.

How To Write Better HTWB

with Suzan St Maur

Welcome! Here on How To Write Better (HTWB!), you'll learn how to improve your writing...
*Nonfiction
*Fiction
*Poetry
*Humour
*Speeches and Talks
*Wedding Speeches
*Social Writing
*Grammar
*Business
*Marketing
*Blogging
*Social Media
*Video and Audio
*Job Search
*Training
*and much more
... in more than 1,500 articles and tutorials by some of the English language's top writing experts. Find what you need in the SEARCH box top right and check out SUZE'S BOOKSHOP, too (tool bar top right.)

JOIN US IN "WRITING FROM THE HEART," AND BE READ BY THOUSANDS

Share your innermost thoughts, from the heart, in verse, as a short story, an essay, etc. in this reader-led series on HTWB. First-time authors and experienced scribes are equally welcome!
Be sure to include a short bio, all links you would like, and a JPG photo of yourself.
Although we can't pay for contributions, our reach is approx. 2,000 page views per day across all English language markets, plus India and other south-east Asian countries, followed by most other countries where English is spoken.
THE SMALL PRINT...
Please note that we must maintain editorial control and that our editorial decisions are final. All content must be original, written by you, and not have been published elsewhere previously. Business related content is not allowed unless there is a strong emotional/personal connection. Maximum word count is 1,500.
Send to suze@suzanstmaur.com with "HTWB" in the subject line.

Click on the image to read samples from Suze's hilarious book of naughty poems - the perfect gift for anyone with a good sense of humour